Sarah Palin took to her Facebook page to denounce “this Mississippi hijacking,” demand an investigation and declare: “Any GOP ‘architect’ behind these abhorrent shenanigans should be ashamed of this Phyrrhic victory for the establishment.”

Charging there were “illegal political games,” the ex-GOP vice presidential candidate added: “I told Chris McDaniel last night that I stand with his efforts to get to the bottom line of this.”

But Tea Party challengers have come up short all over the country, from Idaho to Oklahoma to South Carolina. In two remaining Republican primaries, they stand little chance of unseating veteran Sens. Pat Roberts, R-Kansas and Lamar Alexander, R-Tennessee.

The movement’s last, best hope for a win is in Washington’s 4th Congressional district, the U.S. House seat being vacated by GOP Rep. Doc Hastings.

Ex-Washington Redskins tight end Clint Didier is in a race with several more established GOP candidates, notably ex-state agriculture director Dan Newhouse and State Sen. Janea Holmquist Newbry, R-Moses Lake, an ally of the business lobby.

Didier, an Eltopia, Wash., alfalfa farmer, carried the Tri-Cities area in the 2010 Senate primary, although beaten by fellow Republican Dino Rossi in the race to take on Sen. Patty Murray. He had announced for the Senate at a Tea Party gathering in Franklin County.

Didier ran in 2012 against State Land Commissioner Peter Goldmark. He lost by a 58.74-41.26 percent margin, but carried every county in Central Washington, with 60 percent-plus margins in Benton, Franklin and Grant counties. He even carried Goldmark’s home base of Okanogan.

Didier has been in the news lately, with a drawing in which he is giving away two pistols and a military-style assault rifle. In a Publicola interview, he defended Washington Redskins’ owner Dan Snyder’s decision not to change the team’s name despite appeals from Native-American groups.

During a 2010 Tea Party forum in Bellingham, Didier memorably declared: “We have to get out of the United Nations. They are out to take our guns and repeal America sovereignty.” He borrowed an old John Birch Society slogan, saying: “We have to get out of the United Nations and get the United Nations out of the United States.”

State Democrats would doubtless relish a target like Didier. So far in 2014, they’ve managed only clunky, boilerplate attacks on 1st District Republican congressional hopeful Pedro Celis.

The 4th District is solidly Republican territory, has been since a Selah attorney named Jay Inslee won the seat in 1992. This year, the Democrats have fielded a promising young candidate in former congressional aide Estakio Beltran.

The state’s “top two” primary in August might yield a runoff between two Republicans in November. Otherwise, if he is the GOP nominee, Didier would be favored.

The Tea Party insurgency swept Republican primaries in 2010 and 2012, frequently producing candidates who were not electable. But in 2014, its only “victory” was the defeat of House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, by a college professor who received little Tea Party help.